HYPER-PERSONALISATION:

A GAME CHANGER for

FINANCIAL SERVICES
in INDIA
 Contents

Meet Astro. Introduction 3

Personalising customer journeys 5

Your guide to
Salesforce. Powering connected customer experiences 8

Astro, Codey, and friends are by your side to

Digitising for faster, better performance 11
help you strengthen your customer relation-
ships. Join them as they discuss why hyper-per-
sonalised customer experiences matter.
Conclusion: Six steps to hyper-personalisation 13

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Introduction
Customer expectations have changed dramatically since the advent determined by how well they understand each customer’s unique
of digital giants like Amazon and Google. These innovators bring needs and are able to deliver personalised solutions, services, and
an innate understanding of customer journeys to provide tailored content.
recommendations and exceptional user experiences. In many ways,
they’ve spearheaded a revolution in customer experiences through The secret sauce: Relevance and relationships
personalisation. And now, they’re bringing those strengths to the According to Forrester Research Vice President and Principal
financial services sector. Analyst, Dipanjan Chatterjee1, financial services brands can
effectively counter the growing competition from digital disruptors
That increases the pressure on traditional banks and financial like Amazon and Google by cultivating two specific components:
services companies to rethink their customer experiences. As they relevance and relationships.
go head-to-head with Big Tech, their success to a large extent will be

66% 34%
of customers expect of companies generally
companies to understand treat customers as unique
their unique needs and individuals
Salesforce State of the Connected
expectations
Customer report

1
Forrester Research blogs, “The Future of Financial Brands: Less Financial, More Brand”, May 2020

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Says Chatterjee, “Relevance is secured on three fronts: required for benefits such as personalised offers, more efficient and intuitive
• Being easily accessible wherever and whenever the services, and more competitive pricing.
consumer wants to engage.
• Being useful (in a “jobs to be done” sense) in peoples’ lives, It’s important to remember that hyper-personalisation isn’t just the
rather than peddling products. prerogative of one team. The entire company is responsible. Sales, service,
• Adding intelligence to the mix to create a hyper-personalised and marketing teams all need to be working together, sharing common
and hyper-relevant value proposition. goals and metrics, as they seek to collectively improve the customer
experience.
“Relationships are built on three pillars:
• Being an ally to the customer so that she knows the brand is Empowering employees
in it to look out for her, as well. Employees are on the front lines every day, interacting with customers. How
• Deepening the human connection by building an open, well-equipped are they to provide hyper-personalised experiences? Do they
accessible, trust-filled bond. have the tools to respond quickly to customer needs across channels? These
• Creating uncommon value that secures that holy grail of are key questions to consider.
differentiation, so elusive in financial services.”
Especially in the wake of COVID-19, the ability to understand and engage
Hyper-personalisation strengthens customer trust customers in an empathetic and personalised manner matters more than
As financial institutions strive to build their relevance and ever. That is what will differentiate the businesses that emerge from the crisis
relationships, hyper-personalisation will be key. Customers want stronger and more resilient, from those that struggle to adapt.
experiences and recommendations that are tailored to their needs.
They expect 1-to-1 service that is seamless across multiple channels. This e-book delves into how to foster the kind of hyper-personalised
They want to be met with empathy and to have their queries experiences that strengthen customer trust and loyalty. It also examines how
resolved as quickly as possible. tailored services can transform customer relationships, and drive up revenue.

According to our research, 84% of customers say that being treated

like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business. Today, every customer touchpoint is
Meanwhile, the 2019 Accenture Global Financial Services both a sales and services touchpoint.
Consumer Study found that customers are prepared to hand over
4 Steps to Building a Hyper-personalised Services
more personal information in return for more tailored service. Over Experience in Financial Services
three-quarters of all respondents reported being willing to share the data

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CHAPTER 1 1-to-1 customer engagement
Targeting customers in a hyper-personalised manner often
Personalising customer means going beyond traditional audience segmentation
measures. Just because customers live in the same area, or
journeys work in the same industry doesn’t mean they want the same
financial services products, content, or experiences. It’s
important for companies to engage with customers on
Hyper-personalisation begins at the onset of the customer a 1-to-1 level.
journey—when a company, product, or service first enters the
customer’s mind. What might that look like? It could include sending relevant
offers or recommendations based on what the customer is
PensionBee uses personalised content and journeys to doing in that moment on the mobile banking app. It could also
nurture prospects and onboard customers effectively. Through mean triggering personalised notifications to customers to let
Salesforce, the company sends tailored messages that are likely them know about a new product, service, or asset (e.g., e-book,
to grab the customer’s attention. This personalised approach is video) based on their geolocation or interests.
already reaping rewards. In a good month, around 15% of new
customer sign-ups were triggered by emails from Salesforce. But when you have hundreds or even thousands of
customers with different profiles, how do you enable 1-to-1
Let’s look at another example. A global investment major in personalisation at scale? Salesforce Interaction Studio can
India is building micro-segmented user journeys, and directing help by combining behavioural analytics and advanced machine
three-quarters of its spend towards digital channels. Campaigns learning to provide a comprehensive view of each customer.
and customer communications are personalised based on Using these insights, companies can deliver relevant and
insights such as how frequently the customer transacts. Ads are personalised experiences across the customer journey. They
specifically designed to target prospects who have searched for can also capture deep insights on the customer, know their next
investment-related information. move, guide them to where they want to go, and use artificial
intelligence (AI) to recommend the most relevant products,
For existing investors, the company has developed custom email content, and categories.
journeys and focused social media campaigns to raise awareness
about new investment opportunities. These campaigns are Understanding the customer journey
hyper-personalised based on investor portfolios and behaviours. Another way to improve personalisation is through customer

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journey mapping—creating a visual story of the customer’s Meanwhile, relationship managers can deepen and grow their book
interactions with a company across channels and touchpoints. With of business. They gain more visibility into household opportunities, as
Salesforce Journey Builder, financial services companies can easily well as managed and held-away assets. Plus, they can track referrals,
model the customer journey from initial contact to purchasing and and thereby transform the customer base into an active referral
beyond. network.

The solution harnesses customer data from any source to help create A complete synthesis
customised messages, while also continually fine-tuning journeys Salesforce Customer 360 provides a completed and unified
based on current and predicted behaviours. The result is a customer view of the customer by synthesising data, intelligence, and apps.
experience that’s targeted and connected across touchpoints. Powerful APIs integrate and consolidate information from various
sources, including social media, emails, and corporate websites.
The holy grail: A 360-degree view of customers These functionalities, when combined with AI, empower teams
At the heart of a personalised customer experience is data—not just a with real-time customer intelligence and predictive insights to
few scattered bits of information, but a complete 360-degree view of take customer engagements to the next level.
the customer across sales, service, and marketing.

Having all this data consolidated in a single source of customer truth

provides multiple benefits. It enables financial institutions to build a
deeper understanding of customers, and deliver intelligent service We would like to anticipate our customers’ needs
based on that knowledge. It also helps in prioritising actions, and by getting to know them better. With Salesforce,
recommending next best steps based on the customer’s specific needs. we can bring greater insight to our customer
relationships and interactions. Our teams can now
Teams can easily visualise important events and milestones in the
see every request, complaint, and opportunity
customer’s life and drive more meaningful conversations. Whether the
connected to a customer on a single dashboard
customer is purchasing a home, or planning for retirement, teams have
all the data they need to proactively offer personalised financial advice,
instead of having to consult multiple systems.
while also guiding the customer to the right products and services.
Jonathan Holman, Head of Digital Transformation, Corporate &
Since all teams have a shared view of the customer, the handover from Commercial Banking, Santander UK
marketing to sales to service becomes much smoother. Customers
enjoy a seamless and uniform experience at every touchpoint.

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The customer-first approach Insurance company, Azur has developed a mobile app on Salesforce
Edelweiss Global Wealth Management has created a single, Experience Cloud that helps its brokers retain their insurance
360-degree view of its customers with Salesforce. Using the industry accreditations by providing access to helpful webinars and
Salesforce mobile app, financial advisors can easily access their tests. The company has also created personalised communications
customers’ portfolios, including customer interactions, history, in Salesforce Pardot to convert, onboard, and nurture brokers at
and profiles—all in one place and in real time, thus transforming different stages of their journey. Every month, around 10,000 emails
the customer-advisor relationship. are sent out, including event invites and follow-ups, reminders
to submit quotes, and cross-selling marketing campaigns. This has
The platform also consolidates customer feedback and made it easier for brokers to find the information they need to start
complaints. This data is fed through a Sentiment Analysis Engine, and continue trading.
allowing teams to view trends like the top three issues common
to all customers. The teams can then proactively work to resolve
these issues, and personalise service to meet customer needs.

Edelweiss Global Wealth Management has 92%

satisfied customers, up from 78% a few years ago.
Moreover, 97% of cases are closed within the
agreed turnaround time.

The partner story

Brokers, dealers, and direct selling agents (DSAs) are integral to
the success of financial services players. They help scale up sales
operations, and reach new customers in a cost-effective manner.
Therefore, it’s as important to cultivate strong and personalised
relationships with these partners as it is with customers. After all,
better partner experiences translate into better customer experiences.

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CHAPTER 2 With Salesforce, KLM transformed into a socially connected
business that can intelligently and efficiently collect and track all

Powering connected social conversations, measure brand sentiment on the Web, and
achieve their goal of one-hour response/24-hour resolution time.
customer experiences The financial services sector is now held to similar customer service
standards. Customers demand speedy resolution of queries –
When the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in 2010, irrespective of whether the interaction is over social media or with
so did social media traffic. Stranded travellers rushed to social in-house contact centres. From the customer’s perspective, every
networks such as Twitter and Facebook in search of help, and interaction and touchpoint with the company should be part of a
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines jumped right in. Using the same seamless and singular experience, not a siloed and repetitive one.
social platforms, KLM was able to respond quickly to customers’ This is key to hyper-personalised service.
inquiries, re-direct them to other means of travel, and protect
the KLM brand image.

of service professionals
say their organisation Only

70% can deliver consistent

customer experiences
16% of their
customers agree
on all channels

Salesforce State of Service report

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Many channels, one consistent experience company’s supply chain partners and service providers, as well as its
Salesforce research finds that the average customer now uses 10 customers.
different channels to communicate with companies. While phone
and email have been adopted almost universally, digital channels At the back end, the platform interacts with multiple systems to
like messenger apps and SMS-based text are witnessing increasing enable 30-40 API-led KYC checks, while also integrating with 20+
case volumes. apps for credit decisioning. But at the front-end, the customer
experience is seamless from start to finish. Credit decisions for 95%
But merely being present on these channels isn’t enough. of loan applications are enabled in less than 60 seconds.
According to the Salesforce State of Service report, 70% of
customers expect consistent experiences across channels, with What’s more, a single Salesforce license can be used to process 300
the same capabilities and contextualised engagement based on transactions per day. To put that in perspective, a traditional bank’s
earlier interactions. Yet, only 16% of customers say that companies credit officer typically processes only around three transactions per
generally excel at this. day.

So how can financial institutions close the gap and deliver more Chatbots lend a hand
connected and personalised omni-channel experiences? By creating Companies are increasingly experimenting with chatbots to deliver
a single source of customer truth. When customers switch from email quicker and better service. Bots make it easy to start service
to social media, or from a self-service portal to a call centre, teams interactions with customers, while also providing answers to
must have updated, consistent, and contextual customer data to simple and routine customer queries. They can be trained to greet
drive personalised conversations. customers by name and tend to their specific needs. They can also
engage in dynamic conversations to collect customer information.
Connected customer experiences are also about ensuring that This sets the stage for rapid resolution of the customer’s queries or
customers see the company as one unit, rather than multiple issues.
disparate departments. This is again where it becomes important to
have everyone connected to a single CRM for a unified view of the For more complex queries, the chatbot can direct the customer to
customer. a human agent who, with technologies like Salesforce, will already
have all the customer information at hand before the customer even
DMI Finance has built its Salesforce CRM to be the motherboard says “hello”.
of its operations, bringing everything together. The microprocessors
and chips that are plugged into that motherboard include the Today, omni-channel chatbots have the potential to capture

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customer interactions across touchpoints and channels, and then Today, 82% of customers surveyed in our State of the Connected
sync this data with the CRM system to ensure seamless service. Customer report are either currently using or are interested in
using self-service account portals.
Service at the customer’s doorstep
Recently, India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, announced A leading Indian consumer financing company has taken self-service
that financial services will be part of the doorstep banking services to new heights with a multi-lingual app built on Salesforce Heroku.
available to public sector bank customers. Deployed in just three months, the app has enabled the company to
efficiently deal with the sharp spike in service ticket volumes resulting
Customers appreciate service that comes to them. So, it’s no surprise from the COVID-19 moratorium announcement.
that 87% of high-performing organisations from our research are
making significant investments in field service or mobile workers.
In fact, 80% of service decision-makers say mobile service drives
significant revenue, while 79% say it provides new revenue streams.

Especially since the pandemic, field services for banking and Service is your biggest opportunity
insurance have become increasingly important for customers who
are wary about physically visiting a branch or aren’t tech-savvy.
to elevate customer experiences and
By providing doorstep financial services—be it cash deposits, build stronger relationships
withdrawals, cheque collection, or policy renewals—financial
services can add that extra layer of personalisation and convenience.

The self-service advantage

In the age of do-it-yourself (DIY), customers are more likely to try
and find answers to queries themselves, rather than waiting for Through the app, customers can self-resolve most service queries
a service agent to help them. Self-service portals are a great way such as requests for statements of accounts, foreclosure letters,
to capitalise on this trend. Not only do they help customers find and dues. They can also repay loans through multiple channels,
answers fast and on their own terms, but they also free up service including online and third-party payment gateways. Those who do
agents to focus on more value-adding activities, thus boosting need to talk to an agent can request a call-back through the app.
productivity. Plus, self-service tools help deliver personalised With fewer customers calling in, agents are better able to engage
experiences and content based on customer profiles. with those who need personalised help.

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CHAPTER 3 Meanwhile, Salesforce helps the company’s employees work smarter by
providing a single platform for various teams to communicate, respond in
Digitising for faster, better real time, and swiftly solve customer pain points.

performance Customer experiences in a digital age

It’s time to transform customer experiences for a digital era much like
the company above did. Digital tools offer exciting opportunities for
One of the world’s most reputed financial services providers is financial services companies to not only get closer to the customer, and
reimagining service for the 21st century with Salesforce as its partner. personalise conversations, but also improve productivity.
The company’s vision is to be so real-time and well-informed that it can
anticipate what customers need.

With Salesforce, the company is transforming data on corporate client

account spending patterns into valuable intelligence that then helps
clients make smarter financial decisions and run their businesses more
cost-effectively.

The company is also constantly looking to add value to the

customer experience—for instance, by simplifying business
payments and expense reporting on-the-go through smart phones.

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Workflow automation frees up employees to focus completely on right additional policies to offer. Because these recommendations
the customer and their needs, rather than searching for information are embedded in Salesforce, the agent can then manage the
or performing mundane tasks. Meanwhile, AI can provide predictive sales process all in one place, tracking the customer’s activities,
guidance and recommended actions to strengthen customer interactions with the business, and the status of the deal as it
engagement. It can also enable teams to quickly search knowledge progresses. This type of personalised focus can lead to a spike in sales
repositories for the most relevant information to personalise service. for insurers.

The power of analytics The human connection

AI-powered analytics help stitch together and correlate customer AI and other technologies may help automate processes and
data to provide valuable insights such as which customers are improve the customer experience—but they can’t always replace
most likely to increase assets under management, or which ones human connection and understanding. Eighty percent of service
aren’t meeting their financial goals. Businesses can then use this decision-makers in our research reported believing that AI is most
intelligence to deliver proactive, personalised financial advice that effective when deployed with—rather than in place—of humans.
deepens customer relationships. Human-powered service is critical because it enables companies
to strengthen customer relationships. It also helps gain insights
One international insurer uses Einstein Analytics so that any about customers’ larger needs, so that teams can offer personalised
time a customer calls in with a claim, the agent can easily see on fulfilment.
a dashboard the full spectrum of products the customer has. The
agent can also use Einstein’s recommendations to suggest the

Putting ethics front and centre

Any digital transformation in financial services is truly effective only when it is guided by ethics. This is especially important in light of recent
scandals involving the unauthorised sharing of data, resale of customer information, and algorithmic biases that have undermined public trust.
Companies have a responsibility to safeguard their customers by identifying underlying biases in systems and processes, questioning data
assumptions, and engaging with customers to understand the impact that technology can have on their lives. Those that are sensitive to these
concerns and driven by strong values will be better positioned to use technologies like AI safely, accurately, and ethically.

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Conclusion: Six steps to hyper-personalisation
With customer experiences in focus, financial services companies sales reps can sell more effectively; and service agents can deliver
must move from traditional transaction- or product-based personalised support across every interaction. Meanwhile, Einstein
conversations, to customer-centred conversations. It isn’t enough insights can give teams targeted and tailored recommendations
to have a one-size-fits-all approach to customer solutions on the next best action for the customer.
and services. Teams must nurture deeper and more nuanced
relationships with customers, reaching out to them when they
need it the most.

With that in mind, here are six steps to provide better and more
personalised experiences.

Enable 1-to-1 engagements

By offering each customer the content, services, and experiences
that are uniquely relevant to them, financial services companies
can improve customer relationships and loyalty. Salesforce
Interaction Studio enables these 1-to-1 engagements by tracking
customer behaviours, aggregating data from various sources, and
then using AI to interpret that data and make real-time decisions.
The result is that every customer interaction is personalised and
relevant.

Build a single source of customer truth

With a unified view of the customer, teams across marketing, sales,
and service can deliver seamless experiences at every touchpoint.
Salesforce Customer 360 harnesses data from across multiple
sources to provide a full picture of the customer in one place.
Marketing teams can track how their campaigns turn into leads;

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Provide consistent, omni-channel experiences to deliver those omni-channel experiences by bridging the gaps
Teams must be able to engage with customers completely and between different channels, and empowering teams with complete,
consistently on any channel. Salesforce Customer 360 makes it easy updated customer data wherever they’re serving customers.

Work smarter
Intelligent tools based on AI and analytics can help companies
resolve customer queries faster, and provide predictive guidance and
recommendations. Einstein Analytics gives teams instant access to
smart insights that help them always know what they should do next.
These tools also point customers in the right direction based on their
needs, interests, or past behaviours.

Empower customers
Self-service portals and apps can help customers find answers
and resolve simple issues themselves. These portals can be easily
launched through Salesforce Experience Cloud, providing a place
for customers to check their accounts, pay bills, and get answers in
real time. Meanwhile, Einstein Bots enable customers to get instant
responses to routine queries, and close issues quickly.

Empathise
Hyper-personalisation is ultimately a subset of empathy and
compassion. A key way to deliver those empathetic experiences is
through connected customer engagements across touchpoints. With
Salesforce Customer 360, teams get all the information they need to
put themselves in the customer’s shoes, understand their challenges,
and provide solutions that work for everyone.

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Onwards and upwards want to deal with companies who understand who they are—and who
recognise that their interests are constantly evolving.

For financial institutions, hyper-personalisation is an opportunity Financial services firms that can stay ahead of these expectations and
to build enriching and rewarding relationships with customers. It deliver the kind of hyper-personalised experiences that customers need
also represents a strong competitive advantage in an increasingly will be the ones to lead in the digital age.
crowded landscape.

Thanks to technologies like AI and analytics, companies can develop

highly tailored products and services that celebrate customers’
uniqueness, while also meeting their needs. Customers expect to be
treated as individuals, as humans, not simply as account numbers. They

Salesforce, the global CRM leader, empowers companies of every size and
industry to digitally transform and create a 360° view of their customers.
For more information, please visit www.salesforce.com

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